Sun blessed Google's use of Java in Android

Groklaw has found proof that when Google first introduced Android, Sun, Java’s creator, was in favor of it.

When Android first came out, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, then Java’s owner, greeted the news with “heartfelt congratulations.” Oracle has apparently taken the unprecidented step of deleting the blog post where Schwartz said this, but Groklaw found the page and has republished it.

In the blog Schwartz congratulates Google “on the announcement of their new Java/Linux phone platform, Android.” He says that at “Sun is the first platform software company to commit to a complete developer environment around the platform, as we throw Sun’s NetBeans developers platform for mobile devices behind the effort. We’ve obviously done a ton of work to support developers on all Java based platforms, and we’re pleased to add Google’s Android to the list.”

So Java’s owner at the time not only welcomed Android’s use of Java, they were actively supporting it with development tools. The digging up of evidence basically ruins Oracle's case against Android.